Xenos

ii. That Which is Hidden: July 15, 2126

Day Forty-five

"What do you mean you can't contact the base?" Galen stood in front of the Communications Center, arms crossed, as he looked up the stairs at Drake and Cin. A couple of days had passed since the incident with Gray, who now spent his time locked in the brig, only coming out for showers and guarded exercise. Galen had told Cin that he'd sent a message to the base about what to do about Gray, but they hadn't yet responded. And if Drake and Cin were right about communications, they may never hear back. They just weren't exactly sure what the problem was yet.

"That's just it; we can't," Cin told him.

"We can't really give you more than that," Drake expanded on what they'd originally told him: that when they checked this morning, there was no connection listed, lost or otherwise. Previously when they'd lost the connection, the screen had helpfully listed that in green text. Now it was pure black. It was like the screen had died. And since there was no issue that they could see with the connection in the Communication Center, they'd concluded that the problems were located elsewhere.

Cin hoped that it was merely the vid-screens. They'd be able to fix it by checking the wires located in the storage bay panel. The alternative meant more effort. She really didn't want to go out on a spacewalk again. If it were anything more than toggling a few wires and connections, the repair would be more involved.

Communications Officers were trained extensively before going on their first mission. The Earth Space Corps wanted to make sure that its Communications Officers were ready for anything, even things that were considered rare. They required their officers to learn how to fix any issues that could occur and tested them extensively before allowing them on any missions. It allowed them to cut back on countless base calls when things went wrong. The ESC wanted their officers to operate independently. Cin always thought that their testing rivaled the training soldiers went through, although their training focused more on the mind than on the body.

There were, however, a few issues that could occur—rarely, the ESC emphasized—that required the aid of ESC Communications Officers on Siero Base. If that was what was happening on the Ekhi now, and they were unable to contact the base...she knew that Galen understood the problem. She could see it in the grim look on his face. 

"So one of you will need to go out and fix it again."

"It's not that simple," Cin explained, telling him about the different ways the system informed them about their connections. She tried to keep it as close to common terms as she could, often changing tact when confusion bloomed across his face. "It's like the connection has disappeared completely."

Galen frowned, scratching at the stubble on his chin. "What does that mean?"

It was Drake's turn to explain. "Could be the wires were fried, or we're too far from Earth..."

"Isn't the ship equipped to deal with communications over long-distance travel?"

"They are. But the ship is old."

Confusion turned to frustration. "So what can we do?" 

Drake shrugged. "We won't know until we check."

"And even after we check, it may be a while before we figure out what to do," Cin added.

Galen covered his eyes with his hand, then looked back up at them. "Do it," Galen ordered. "Both of you. This is our number one concern right now."

"Yes, sir."

When they designed Class B Ophe ships like the Ekhi, the panel indicating the status of the communication wires—the more detailed ones, at least—were built into the storage area. Whoever decided on that particular design clearly hadn't been a member of any communications team. It was one of many odd design decisions on ships like the Ekhi. Some oddities had been updated, like the showers; they'd formerly been two rooms divided by gender but not affording privacy to anyone who didn't identify on the two lines. They didn't account for people who didn't feel comfortable sharing a shower with their crewmates either.